A massive squeeze ahead of Christmas, as one of New Zealand's biggest banks increases its homeloan and deposit rates

ANZ has become the first bank to lift its floating and flexible mortgage rates by 65 basis points, after the OCR was lifted to 4.25 percent last week.

Infometrics Chief Forecaster Gareth Kiernan says it's in no one's interest to have mortgagee sales, as pressure mounts on new homeowners.

He's expecting banks will be bending over backwards to help people struggling to pay their mortgage.